Star-Ledger college reporter Tom Luicci talked to Big East commissioner Michael Tranghese about the controversial final second of Rutgers game with Tennessee.

Luicci: Was there a mistake made by the officials and/or timekeeper?

Tranghese: "I don't know. I can only go by what I saw on television and it appeared to me that before the official made the call that there had been a stoppage of the clock. That's what my eyes tell me. Based on the conversations we had today with the officials and the SEC had with the clock operator I haven't been given an answer that satisfies everything. I don't ascribe to the conspiracy theory and all of that kind of stuff, but base on the clock that was shown on the screen in the ESPN telecast there appeared to be a stoppage of the clock. That's what I tried to get at today. I think the officials were forthcoming and I think the clock operator, according to the SEC, was forthcoming, but that doesn't explain the stoppage."

Luicci: Do they know who stopped the clock?

Tranghese: "No. the clock can only be stopped in one of three ways: A technical glitch, the official or the timekeeper. Those are the only three that can stop the clock. It's not just the stoppage. It started again too."

Luicci: But the officials have first contol over the clock?

Tranghese: "Yes. Here's what happens sometimes. The officials control it, but once in a while a timer will inadvertantly put his finger down and that can do it. But that's why we asked the clock operator at Tennessee, the SEC did, Bill Stokes is their coordinator, talked to them and he said he never touched it. According to what I saw on TV there was this pause -- and I don't know how long the pause was. But clearly it's there and I think Rutgers people think something occurred to cause the pause."

Luicci: Do the officials have the authority to have simply allowed the time to expire?

Tranghese: "Oh yes. It was within the officials' right to determine whether the game was over, whether there was 0.2 or whether there was something else left. It's clearly within their authority to make that call. If the officials at that point thought there had been a delay and it was longer than 0.2 seconds they could have declared the game over."

Luicci: When the officials went over to review the call on replay, were they not aware there was a stoppage?

Tranghese: "I don't know what the officials were aware of or not aware of, but they did not ask the timer about any delay and they did not ask the timer if he had stopped the clock. That tells me they simply looked at the video and were unaware of the stoppage. But if you talk to the Rutgers people, I think that's what Vivian was yelling to the official, that there had been a stoppage in play."

Luicci: If there is a mistake acknbowledged, is there any recourse for Rutgers?

Tranghese: "First of all, nobody has acknowledged a mistake. That's the problem. I'm looking at it and I see it and I don't have a full answer for what happened. But there is no recourse. Once the game is over, the officials declare it over, they don't have the ability to go back and replay it or redo it."